The Hug
by LittleMissMorbid
Summary: ."He can’t kiss her. But he really, really wants to."


It started with a hug.

Pushing each other and grabbing hold to regain balance.

Then their other senses began to kick in.

He smelled like Axe Bodywash (how stereotypical, she thinks, with an accompanying eye-roll).

_She _smelled like mangoes.

Her cheek brushed his shirt. It made shivers run down her spin.

The softness of her hair, warming his chin, caused goosebumps to sprout and run amok down his arms.

It's odd, how one moment lasting only a few seconds can feel like years.

They part awkwardly and, argument forgotten, avoid each other for the rest of that day.

o-o-o

It's Monday.

She can't stop thinking about the way his hands felt on her bare arms, the way he instinctively held her closer. Her eyelids flutter closed and she imagines it again.

She found something in his embrace.

Something like a match has been ignited in her belly, and she can't shake it no matter how hard she tries.

When she hits a pole and falls backward, Casey is momentarily disappointed that Derek isn't there to catch her.

She goes home early, and the fantasies run wild in her head, making her face flush.

Nora makes a passing comment about getting her a helmet, but Casey barely hears it.

She is both glad and disappointed that she gets served soup in bed, because it means no Derek.

o-o-o

When he hears she's gone home early, his first instinct is to make a joke about it. His second instinct is to find her.

He follows his first instinct instead.

Everyone laughs, but it just makes his stomach turn and he thinking about her again.

Does she smell like mangoes?

He imagines running his hands through her thick hair, down her shoulders (he feels a familiar tingling sensation running down his skin), down 'til she gasps and utters his name.

He doesn't imagine her voice as something quiet. No, it's loud and guttural, something that means business, something that turns him on so much he'd take her right then and there.

Derek groans and spends seventh period in the bathroom, thinking of dying puppies.

o-o-o

On the third day of not talking to each other, George makes a comment on how nice it is that they can get along.

Casey keeps her eyes trained on her plate for the rest of the meal.

After, Derek makes a beeline for the stairs and doesn't come out for the rest of the night.

o-o-o

Casey corners him in his room on Friday, just as he was about to leave (because he just wanted to get away from _her)_.

She's rather straight to the point, and Derek is a little taken aback at her request.

"Can I hug you?"

Derek lets out an awkward little chuckle. He really has nothing witty to say.

A little _oof _escapes his throat as she wraps her arms around his midriff, pulling herself closer.

His arms stay frozen in midair, and he just stares down at the mess of brown (kiwi scented, he notes) hair hugging firmly below his chin.

She pulls back after a second, and a small, contented smile is on her face. "Thanks." She says in a little sigh. "Don't stay out too late."

She leaves, and he's still rooted firmly at the same spot, his arms paralyzed in position.

o-o-o

After she hugs him, things go back to normal. They squabble and they lash out at each other, but they both wearily keep their distance.

It's not like Casey wasn't ever attractive, and it's not like he never realized they had chemistry.

You just don't date within the family, that's all.

o-o-o

He's pouting at the island in the kitchen when Casey discovers him, sauntering past to grab a drink from the fridge.

"Well," Casey begins in her irritating all-knowing tone, "if you hadn't sneaked out you wouldn't be stuck here on a Friday night."

"What's your excuse?" He snarked.

"_I," _stated Casey snottily, "am going to Emily's for a movie night. So you have fun babysitting!"

"Fuck you!" He calls after her, and she stops in her tracks.

Turning around, a devilish smile on her face, she quickly twists her expression into one of false concern.

"Does somebody need a hug?"

She walks silkily, enchantingly, and pauses, dragging an index finger down his face.

Noting his audible gulp, she smirks.

He can't kiss her. But he really, really wants to.

So he pulls her close, crushingly, her ear close to her lips.

"_It's the best I can do," _He whispers.

She gives him a knowing look, and ascends the stairs slowly.

Derek lets out a quiet grunt, slamming a fist on the table beside him.

She's family.

And she's _always_ going to be family.


End file.
